1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for disseminating an active agent for the control of pests or monitoring of an insect population. It is adapted for use in combination with an insect trap which captures the insects and directs them to the vicinity of the pathogen located within the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The concept of insect-vectored entomopathogen dissemination was described in the report of a study by Burkholder [Chemical Control of Insect Behavior: Theory and Application, Shorey and McKelvy, Jr. (ed.), John Wiley and Sons, Inc., pp. 345-351 (1977)] and Shapas et al. [J. Econ. Entom. 70: 469-474 (1977)]. In those reports, references were made to prior studies by McLaughlin [J. Econ. Entomol. 59: 909-911 (1966), J. Invertebr. Pathol. 13: 429-41 (1969) and In Microbial Contol of Insects and Mites, H. D Burgess et al., Academic, New York, pp. 151-172 (1971)] to use of protozoans for microbial control of insects, particularly the boll weevil. Burkholder and Shapas et al., supra, demonstrated that when male Trogoderma Elabrum (Herbst) beetles were drawn into a corrugated inoculation device treated with a component of a pheromone and dusting of Mattesia spores, over 95% of the test insects became contaminated with the protozoan.
Gunner et al. (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,057,315 and 5,057,316) describe a method and device for control and extermination of a variety of insects, including roaches and flying insects by contact with cultures of an entomopathogenic agent. In the embodiment for treating roaches, the chamber is designed to be placed flat on the ground or other horizontal surface and to promote contact between the source of the pathogen and the back of the crawling insect. Insects are free to enter and exit through the same holes on the side of the chamber. The embodiment for treating flying insects, such as the housefly and little housefly, provides for a covered chamber which houses a fungal culture medium (see also Miller et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,831). The interior of the chamber is accessible by means of holes on the side, through which the insects can freely enter or exit. Insects attracted to the medium are contacted with a fungal pathogen grown on the medium, though no structural means is provided to insure such contact.
In Design U.S. Pat. No. Des. 324,406, Brefka presents an ornamental design for an insect contamination chamber. The octagonal housing of the chamber comprises four portals for entry of crawling insects and a centrally located bait station.
Jackson et al. [J. Econ. Encomol., 85: 710-719 (1992)] disclose a contamination station for autodissemination of a Baculovirus for management of the tobacco budworm. The station is designed to mount on the top of a wire-cone trap and has a bottom entrance for the flying adult moths. Inside the station, a series of baffles directs the insects into contact with the entomopathogen and out through the underside of a removable lid.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,681, Chang et al. shows an insect bait station comprising a first compartment for holding a hydrated macrogel containing an entomopathogen and a second compartment containing a hydrated water retentive compound layer which acts as a water-reservoir for the entomopathogen. Attractants induce crawling insects to enter and exit the station through any of a series of portals near the bottom, whereupon then come into contact with the patbogen.